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Red, White and Blue Perch

Type: Freshwater
Region: Northern
Location: Bear Creek

For weeks, outdoor writer ‘Tacklebox’ Tim Sherman had been telling me about the terrific perch fishing he had been experiencing on the Patapsco River. Tim and I made plans to take my grandson Jacob perch-jerkin’ on Sunday, August 22.

There was a stiff breeze and threatening clouds at daybreak when we arrived at the boat ramp on Bear Creek. Undaunted, we headed out in Tim’s seaworthy 19-foot boat. We took a little spray as we headed under the Key Bridge to our destination – the rip-rap along Fort McHenry.

Tim has been perfecting his perch rigs for a long time. Usually, he will tie tandem rigs with 1/16-ounce jig heads and some tiny plastic panfish attractor – something like a ‘speck rig’ used for sea trout off the Route 50 Bridge in Ocean City. Today, because of the wind, we upgraded to 1/8-ounce jig heads and tipped them with little 2-1/2-inch Fin-S Fish made by Lunker City. Because we would be releasing everything, Tim had mashed down the barbs on the hooks to make unhooking the fish much easier.

There wasn’t a whole lot of technique to catching the perch. We would simply cast as close to the rocks as we could and slowly jig the rigs back to the boat.

Today’s favorite selection (as determined by the perch) was called Firecracker Shad in silver with red, white and blue glitter. It was so appropriate for our location at the Fort with Old Glory waving in the background and thoughts of Francis Scott Key’s historic poem.

Second choice for the abundant perch and the occasional juvenile stripers was any little plastic with chartreuse and silver. We alternated the Fin-S Fish with Bass Assassin’s 1-1/2-inch Tiny Shads. On this overcast day, the fish seemed to want more natural looking baits rather than something white or bright.

After a couple of hours we struck out for a new batch of rip-rap “around the corner” a struck it rich with bigger perch and a lot more hang-ups. Tim seemed to think that because of the wind, thus the heavier rigs; we became stuck more often than usual. Nevertheless, the perch cooperated most of the morning and we ended our adventure before the sun appeared and the temperature began to rise.

All-in-all we had a great time. Even Jacob said that he had never caught so many fish before and his smile made my day. Thanks Tacklebox!